User blog:Brady26/One Night in Greenest
Arriving in Greenest, Chamain Ertvine set up the party in the Fount Inn whilst he and Silvar Hallwinter went to the keep to talk with the leader of the town Governor Nighthill. Khez and Caissius excused themselves whilst the remaining members rested in the private rooms Ertvine had purchased for them, saying that they had other business in the town to deal with. The rest of the group rested in the inn and went into the common room to enjoy some well earned food and drink. At the same inn, Darion and Barion Relthorne, two brothers from a farm in western Eldswall were meeting for the first time in years. Darion had travelled to the Goblin Clanlands in the south with his order, where he fought ogres and goblins and suffered an affliction that left him deformed. Seeing each other for the first time in many years Barion was shocked at first and was coming to grips with the transformation of this brother, as well as the long standing issues between them when the barmaid in the inn sat Rack and Kadmos at his table. At first not sure of the two, Barion opened up as they played Dragon and the Thief, the three of them quickly exchanging coins as they talked of their adventures. After Darion joined them, many patrons in the inn began to watch the group as they played for more and more money, Darion noticing that one patron in particular was watching them with a degree of disgust which he took offence to, calling the man out until he departed the inn. Following him, Rack attempted to push him into the fountain outside, the man whispering to Rack in draconic; "What are you doing? It's not time yet." Rack insulted the man, and he left, the dragonborn returning to his new friends and letting them know he dealt with the rude man. The group continued to drink, eat and laugh as the sun went down, eventually being the last ones in the common room. As they drank, they noticed the rude man from before outside with a group of men and kobolds who hurled rocks threw the windows of nearby buildings that then exploded in bursts of flame, including through the window of the Fount Inn where they sat. Outside they saw devastated buildings as a dragon flew overhead, casting bolts of lightning from its mouth onto the homes below. Rushing outside, Darion charged the group, seeing a woman, a man and three children nearby escaping a falling roof that had collapsed in the fire that engulfed it. The group defeated the cultist and the kobolds, convincing the fleeing villagers to hide in the inn. The woman introduced herself as Linan Swift, with her husband Cuth having hurt himself fleeing their burning home, she directed them to the keep on the hill to the south, being the safest place in the town that everyone else would have fled to. At first Linan was suspicious of the group, pointing to the dragonborn in the group, saying that she had seen another like them leading the attackers. Darion was quick to become offended by the accusation but noticed that Barra was indeed wearing an amulet of the goddess Tiamat, whom these cultists also worshipped and dropped the issue, agreeing to set off towards the keep. As they left, Darion grabbed one of the cultists they had knocked unconscious. Deciding to make their way there as they looked for survivors, Rack found the innkeeper they had told to flee earlier hiding behind a barrel, he joined them as they made their way to the keep. They passed another group of cultists and kobolds, mimicking the hand signal of the cult, taking them for other cultists, they passed without questioning one another, one of the cultists whispering to the other that they were unaware that they were to take prisoners, to which Barra called out that they were to do so, to which the kobolds seemed excited at the prospect of having slaves to eat. Finding no more survivors, or at least no survivors that wanted to be found by a group such as theym, they made there way to the keep, getting there as a mass of kobolds rushed after them up the hill, the whole group except Rack rushing forwards before the keep's gate closed, the dragonborn monk changing his mind at the last minute as a horde of angry kobolds approached. Rushing through the doors the group was directed towards Governor Nighthill atop the keep's tower, there they met the governor and the keep's cast allan, Escobert the Red, the two of them telling the group that a number of people were hiding in the church to the east, with the governor expressing a desire to interrogate one of the cultists to find out why they are here. Slumping the unconscious cultist he had captured before him, Darion agreed to help rescue the people from the church. Using the sally port that led to the river, the group made their way to the church where they saw a large group of cultists and kobolds trying to break down the front door, whilst a smaller group were around the back attempting to pick the lock of the door to the priest's private study. As Barion and Kadmos tried to approach quietly up to the small wall with spiked railings around it a kobold poked his head up, reacting quickly, Kadmos stabbed it through the skull, killing it silently as Barion cast the ''sleep ''spell on the remaining cultists. Climbing the low wall, Darion and Rack killed the helpless cultists that lay unconscious by the door. Picking the lock they entered the church to find a number of scare villagers and a holy man of Elendei who was trying to calm them. As the cultists attempted to batter down the doors of the church, the group managed to convince the terrified villagers that they could lead them to safety, with Barion and Rack managing to bring the last few stragglers through as Darion, Barra and Kadmos held the door. Fleeing the church after causing a distraction at the door, they travelled down the river, seeing a number of cultists nearby that saw them and withdrew into the town. After delivering the villagers to the safety of the keep, the group aided in the interrogation of the cultists they had brought in earlier. Darion and Barra took the lead, scaring the cultist into revealing that they were cultists devoted to the Dragon Queen, Tiamat, and that they were there to gather wealth for her great hoard. Additionally, the cultists who named himself as Silv, revealed they had a camp nearby to the east where they were bringing their loot from the raid under the command of Frulam Mondath, there they had a clutch of dragon eggs they had under heavy guard. When questioned why he joined such an evil cult he admitted to having a crisis of faith during the Silence and turning to the Dragon Queen when she returned more powerful than ever, noticing the amulet around Barra's neck which he mistook for a shared faith, but Barra did not respond. After a rest the group met Chamain Ertvine and Sildar Hallwinter who were helping villagers. Sildar pointed out that a mill to the west was being torched by the cultists, there could be people trapped inside it. Setting off through the tunnel, the group was ambushed by a group of cultists as they reached the river, Rack using his flame breath to immolate the would be assassins, with the group quickly killing the last of them. Travelling west down the river the group saw a large fire and a number of kobolds dancing around and hurling wood into it to make a lot of smoke under the direction of a cultist. Whilst they seemed to have made a lot of noise on their approach the cultist did not react, and the kobolds were too engrossed in the fire to notice them. When the group charged the arsonists the cultist seemed to have been ready for them and retreated behind the fire, which was actually just a smoke screen as the mill was not burning at all. As the kobolds fought them, more cultists were revealed from behind the mill, the group fighting desperately against them and their drake. Eventually they managed to overcome the enemy, Darion knocking out the leader of the group and grabbing him to bring back to the keep whilst Barra and the rest looked for signs of survivors around the mill, only finding a few bags of flour. As they readied to depart they saw the dragon was no longer circling the town and was striking at the keep. Rushing back, the group asked if their was any siege equipment they could use to defend themselves against the monster, Escobert showed them to a damaged ballista they had below the tower which was in need of repairs. Darion left the new cultist he had kidnapped with the other one, binding his hands with rope as he lay unconscious. Together Barion, Barra and Rack examined the siege weapon, and knowing what needed to be done, with Barion managing to fix it in relatively short order they hauled the weapon to the top of the keep. Once there Rack took aim with the massive crossbow, firing upon the beast twice with no avail until the third time when his bolt struck home, the dragon ceasing its attack and swearing in draconic before taking to the sky. In the attack Darion and Barra were injured by the dragon's breath weapon, with both nearly succumbing to their wounds when the holy man of Elendei, who called himself Brother, healed them with the grace of his goddess. Resting again, the group was roused by a knocking on the door of the keep, Sildar directing them to stand atop the walls to look down at the sight below. A seven foot tall dragonborn with a ring of kobolds around him had four captives from the village, he called out to the defenders of Greenest to send their champion out in exchange for setting the villagers free. Offering himself up without question, Darion requested any aid the village could give him, with Governor Nighthill offering the last potion in the stores and Chamain offering a healing draught/wine bottle he had thrown together. Stepping out the eight foot tall paladin stood before the dragonborn ready to fight, the two of them clashing in the muddy ground before the keep, the imposing form of Darion Relthorne slamming his shield down to protect himself from his opponent only for the more agile dragonborn to step around him and attack his flank. After Darion scored a hit the blue dragonborn dropped his shortspear and drew his greatsword, which he brought down on Darion's shield, the blow slamming Darion onto his back where he lay dazed. Kicking away his shield the blue dragonborn removed Darion's helmet, praising the warrior for his effort he drew a claw across his eye, cutting a deep scar down his face. Nodding in approval of his work the prisoners were released and the remaining kobolds and he left. Running to his brother's aid, Barion feared the worst but was relieved when Darion was still breathing. As the sun began to peak over the horizon, the cultists marched out of the village as only the worst of the fires still burned. Category:Blog posts